the love of fire and ice
by Boo244
Summary: Haren Uzumaki plans to be a ninja, she plans to have friends, she plans to be with sasuke forever... plans change... sasuke/oc/gaara naruto/oc/sasori
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: My Secret, My Closest Friend, My Dearest Sister!

"today is the day of the exam every one please line up and wait to come into the exam room" Iruka Sensei said ushering for quiet in the crowded academy school room. A few kids sat scattered around the room but most were standing up and talking. A little red headed girl sat all alone on the second to last row of seats.

Haren watched as her older brother walked into the exam room, a thin sheet of sweat covering his face.

" good luck Naruto." she whispered.

Haren Uzumaki was a year younger than her brother, but she was just as powerful as any genin in the academy or just graduating. She was the second child of Kushina Uzumaki. Her mother had lived to raise the two children for about two years after Haren had been born, but then because of either an illness, or the loss of the will to live, she had passed away. Leaving a three year old Naruto and a two year old Haren to fend for themselves.

Neither Naruto or Haren knew who their father was, they only knew that on the night Naruto was born, he had died. And Haren had been an accident her fathers identity was completely unknown even to her mother.

It was said that Naruto looked exactly like his father, and Haren was a mirror image of their mother.

Haren was now eleven, and her brother twelve. In public Naruto always acted like the mischievous prankster, but at home he was a kind and loving big brother, who Haren knew she could depend on.

Haren's blue eyes stayed glued to the door, until the it finally opened and a very sullen looking Naruto stepped out.

the blond kept his eyes focused to the floor as some kids snickered. Haren knew todays test was the clone test, that was Naruto's worst jutsu.

He plopped down next to Haren and put his head in his hands. Haren knew it would only embarrass Naruto to console him in public so she stayed quiet.

"hey dobe, fail again?" came a quiet voice from behind the Uzumaki's.

Haren turned to see Sasuke Uchiha, his hands folded calmly under his chin. With his little sister Chibi sitting next to him cowering slightly. The little raven haired girl moved her onyx eyes to the floor. Chibi was Haren's best friend, her brother was an absolute arrogant jerk.

He, like every one else, made fun of Naruto constantly, and Naruto in return tried his best to make sure that he never lost to Sasuke. But unfortunately Sasuke usually beat him.

Haren glared at the boy Uchiha until for some reason his cheeks grew bright red and he looked away.

She gave a little laugh at how fake he was sometimes.

Every one thought Sasuke was so cool and calm, but whenever their eyes met Sasuke would completely lose confidence and start stuttering about the chakra system.

She didn't really have any problems with Sasuke in particular, he never did any thing bad to her, but she had found ways to get him back for tormenting Naruto.

One such way was when Haren ignored him, she turned to Chibi, out of the corner of her eye Haren saw Sasuke twitch and his brows knit together.

"hey Chibi, would you like to come over and do homework tonight?then maybe we could have a sleep over?" the question was partially directed at Sasuke, because he was her guardian.

With another blush filled glance at Haren Sasuke reluctantly gave Chibi permission to go.

"Yea it's fine... I don't care..." Naruto suddenly spoke up,

"hey! What if I don't want two giggling girls keeping me up all night!?" He was back to his old self already yelling,

"well then they can stay at the Uchiha estate." Sasuke said smiling evilly at Naruto.

Naruto's blue eyes widened and he hopped up on the desk pointing at Sasuke and shouting,

"NO WAY!!! my little sister isn't going anywhere near you, PERVERT!!!"

Sasuke's cheeks again reddened, and he looked away,

"that wasn't what I meant... I was just saying if you didn't want them keeping you up all night...AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING PERVERT!?!? WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THAT SEXY JUTSU OF YOURS ANYWAY HUH!?!?!"

the conversation went on this way until class let out. Then Sasuke insisted on escorting Chibi to Naruto's house because he didn't trust Naruto with the care of his younger sister.

Then Naruto started complaining that he didn't want to cook so much food. Haren suggested they all go out to eat, and after protesting about having to sit in the same booth as each other the two boys reluctantly complied.

Chibi picked a cute little restaurant outside of the market place that she said was known for its pork.

Chibi and Haren sat on opposite sides of the table so they could talk.

Sasuke very nonchalantly slipped in front of Naruto and sat next to Haren.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TEME?!" Naruto shouted loudly making all the heads in the restaurant turn.

"i was just sitting down, you got a problem with that dobe?" Sasuke said looking in the other direction ignoring the furious blond.

Eventually Naruto sat down next to Chibi after being chastised by the waitress.

Chibi's whole face was bright red. Especially when Naruto didn't get a menu and had to look at hers with her. His face was only about three inches away from her flaming one, she looked like she was going to faint, the quiet girl was so shy this was very normal for her.

"What are you ordering brother?" she asked in a small voice looking over the top of the menu at Sasuke,

Sasuke pursed his lips and glared at the menu,

"i don't know, I have no idea whats good here..."

Naruto was still sending looks of pure hate in Sasuke's direction,

"Why don't you order crap, since thats what always seems to be coming out of your mouth?" he said with acid dripping from every word.

Sasuke flinched and he stood up slamming his hands down on the table,

"What did you say to me last in class?"

"You heard what I said!"

"Well lets see how much crap is coming out of my mouth when I punch you into next _week_!"

"Take your best shot TEME!"

The two boys were still arguing when the waitress came to get their orders, so the two girls ordered for their brothers.

After the waitress left Haren calmly sipped her tea, and she raised her voice over the two arguing boys to chat with Chibi.

Many people glared in the direction of the loud voices, but seeing as getting glared at was a common occurrence for the two outcast families, they payed their visual assaulters no mind.

After the food came the whole table was silent, As the two previously bickering ninja ate their mystery meals.

Haren had ordered Naruto ramen so he was of course content.

Sasuke ate his meal in silence with no comment on the taste.

Then Haren broke the silence with a loud exclamation of pleasure, putting a bite of what looked like pork in between her chopsticks she held them out to Sasuke,

"Here Sasuke you must try this! It tastes amazing!"

the boy blushed so much it looked like he was going to catch fire. But he obediently opened his mouth to a little o. Haren looked annoyed,

"You have to open it wider, or the food wont fit."

Naruto was glaring across the table at the Uchiha, he was usually the one Haren fed her delicious food to! But thinking about it for moment Naruto realized that Haren's choice of food was horrible! His frown curled up into a malicious smile for the unfortunate Uchiha. This would definitely be good; even with his stomach of steel he could barely swallow the food Haren fed him.

Sasuke opened his mouth wide, and Haren placed the food inside.

Letting him chew for a moment she anxiously smiled, every one at the table leaned forward. Naruto watching for even a hint of dislike, to his surprise Sasuke's face lit up,

"its amazing, what is it?" Naruto's face fell, why? The one time the food is good...

Haren squealed with delight,

"Pork Liver mixed with cow stomach!"

Sasuke's eyes widened with dismay as he forced himself to swallow.

Naruto's face turned red and his eyes began to water, he wouldn't be able to hold back for very long! Chibi was giggling quietly.

Sasuke jumped out of his chair,

"ill be right back!" he said trying not to throw up.

Once he was safely out of earshot Naruto burst into loud peals of laughter.

"Did you see the look on his smug little face!!! It was absolute perfection!Haren I am in your debt that was the best thing thats happened to me since your birth!"

Haren looked confused, Sasuke had said it tasted good... what was wrong with him?Maybe he was allergic! With a concerned look on her face she said,

"i better go check to see if he is OK..."

the red head got up and walked over to the shop's bathrooms and peeked in the door. There was no one in there. Then just in case she checked the ladies room. No one there either.

As she was walking back to the table an elderly woman grabbed her coat sleeve,

"Excuse me young miss. You wouldn't happen to be looking for that boy that just went running past my booth would you?" Haren's eyes widened,

"you saw Sasuke?"

the woman smiled gently,

"Yes I do believe he went running in that direction."

she pointed to the left of the restaurant,

"He looked very sick dearie, you probably go give him some help."

Haren bowed,

"Thank you very much ma'am" she was about to run after Sasuke when the woman gripped her arm surprisingly hard,

"One more thing sweetie," She said quietly, "Your a ninja right?"

Haren's brow furrowed,

"Yes, I am going to graduate from the academy in a few months. Why?"

The old woman smiled sweetly,

"Ah how I remember being a ninja... what wonderful times those were... but I ramble, why don't you come to this address on Saturday sweetheart, so I can teach you a very powerful technique."

Haren gave the woman a questioning look as she was handed a piece of paper with an address on it. But then again the old woman probably just wanted someone to talk to about her past, and show Haren a neat trick. Haren brightened when she realized what exciting stories this woman would have to tell.

She bowed again but more deeply this time,

"thank you ma'am, I've got to go find Sasuke now, but I will definitely be there on Saturday. Oh by the way, what is your name Sensei?" Haren asked,

"It's Chi, sweetheart, Chi Sensei, is what you may call me."

"I am Haren Uzumaki, thank you Sensei!"

smiling Haren ran in the direction that Chi Sensei had pointed.

After Haren had gone she turned back to her dinner,

"yes dearie it was so nice to meet you, I look forward to Saturday as well." she whispered taking a sip of her tea.

Haren entered into the street, the sun was just settling below the horizon. A few streetlights began to turn on.

As she ran through the near empty street she began to be afraid. What if Sasuke had gotten seriously ill from that food? What if he had fallen into the river unconscious? What if he was-! ' No! Stop thinking like that!' she told herself, ' I'm sure Sasuke is fine! He's really tough! Other wise Naruto wouldn't work so hard to beat him!'

Haren stopped running and walked forward a few steps until she fell to her knees. Naruto and Sasuke were always fighting. Haren usually hated Sasuke as much as her brother did. She had even glared at him this morning in class.

Why then was she so worried about the Uchiha?

He was a jerk! He made fun of Naruto all the time! Every one made fun of Naruto though... Sasuke... why did she care so much about his well being?

She had a flash memory of his face, sad, reserved, angry, annoyed, embarrassed. Haren had only seen Sasuke's sad emotions. She realized she wanted to see him smile, she wanted the normally sad boy to be happy.

She wanted to be the one who made him happy.

Suddenly she felt something bump into her. Opening her eyes she had to tilt her head back to see... an orange book?

The book moved and a man with all of his face covered except one blank black eye stared down at her. He wore a forehead protector that swept back his white hair, with a green vest. He was jonnin!

"oh I'm so sorry Sensei!" Haren excepted his outstretched hand and got to her feet. Bowing she stuttered,

" I was looking for my friend he got really sick..."

"its quite alright little one, if your talking about Sasuke Uchiha, he's unconscious in that alley over there," scratching the back of his head he said, " Would you like some help getting him home he didn't look like he was very inclined to move."

but the jonnin was talking to no one, Haren was already running in the opposite direction,

"Thank you!" she called to him as she rounded the corner of the alley.

The jonnin chuckled to himself,and kept walking in the other direction

Sasuke lay there sure enough, looking pale as a ghost. Haren knelt next to him,

"Oh god Sasuke! Here I was just talking about how I wanted to make you happy then this happens!" Haren started to sniffle and soon she just buried her face in Sasuke's navy shirt.

"i want to make you happy! I want to be around you more...

"Sasuke I know that you hate me just as much as you do every one else but I don't know what I would do if you die, I know this probably wont kill you but still! Please don't die!"

Sasuke stirred, as if by some invisible force he sat up. The moon was high in the night time sky and the world around him was lit by only one streetlight.

The full moon made him think of that night, the night Itachi had killed his entire family... he saw his parents corpses on the ground in front of him. He saw Chibi's face when she got back two days later from the land of Snow. He shook his head, letting the memories fade until he had a clear mind.

He tried to remember what had happened.

He recalled running away from the restaurant, then a jonnin had come by and given some medicen. It had made his stomach calm down, but after that he had fallen unconscious. But what was that voice? He had heard someone talking,

"'_Please don't die!'"_ it had been a very familiar voice..

suddenly Sasuke looked down.

Next to him curled into a little ball, was Haren.

She had dried tears on her face and dirt all over her white jacket. She was asleep but she had a frown on her face.

How long had he observed this little girl from afar? Since she was five years old really, he remembered her in her cute little blue kimono at the firefly festival with her older brother.

They were just like him.

No one offered them free food, no one asked them to play games.

He and Chibi, along with a seething Kaori, had also been standing off to the side, watching people glare at them, shun them.

But then he had seen her.

A little angel in a blue kimono. Her red hair flowing like a river down her back. Since then every day he had longed to take her up in his arms and stroke that hair that looked so silky.

Now she lay here next to him, probably coming out of plain friendly concern to see if he was OK...

He tentatively reached out and laid his hand on her head. The smoothness of her hair sent shivers up his arm.

Very slowly and gently he ran his fingers through the crimson locks. So much softer and silkier than he had imagined. He scooted a little closer and slowly ran his fingers through again and again. Eventually she stopped frowning and relaxed into a more peaceful sleep.

Sasuke reluctantly moved his hand away and sighed. He shouldn't be doing this, one he didn't have Haren's permission, and two, he didn't want to open his heart up and get hurt again.

But he didn't have to open his heart one inch to realize that he loved this girl. Not like he loved Chibi, or had loved his mother, it was different.

"love you Haren." he whispered, he wouldn't ever be able to tell her that to her face but... he was glad he'd said it.

Naruto was shocked when he heard the door bell ring at midnight. He looked up from his book of jutsu and went to the door.

His shock turned to anger when he realized it was Sasuke, he had searched all over he village and hadn't found him or Haren, whom he now held sleeping in his arms.

"How the hell did you find my sister!?" Naruto whispered furiously.

He noted that Sasuke was pale as a corpse besides his flaming cheeks, he panted like a dog and seemed like he was having a hard time standing.

" Hey are you okay?" Naruto asked trying to take his sister out of the sick boy's arms. But Sasuke held fast, he shook his head wordlessly and pushed Naruto out of the way, walking into the tiny apartment. Naruto followed behind him rubbing his eyes,

"What happened?" He asked Sasuke as Haren was set on the couch,

"After I ran out of the shop I fell down. I woke up later to find Haren laying beside me, apparently she couldn't carry me, so she stayed beside me all night. When I woke up I was feeling better so I carried her home."

Naruto nodded, he surprised Sasuke by getting him a cold pack and a blanket. The Uchiha expected the blond to start yelling at him for being a pervert, but instead Naruto told Sasuke to lie down and get some rest.

"what about Chibi?" Sasuke resisted Naruto trying to push him down. So giving up on getting Sasuke to rest, Naruto picked up Haren and took her to another room. He came back a few minutes later,

"Chibi is fine, she came home with me after we searched for you two for hours. She didn't want to stay by herself, and she figured this would be where you went. She is sleeping in the guest room." Naruto said pointing down the hall way.

"How many rooms do you have in this tiny place?" Sasuke said trying to provoke Naruto like usual. Naruto simply frowned at him,

"You can stop acting like a little kid Sasuke, we aren't at school..." Naruto said sternly, going into the kitchen and getting out some herbs.

Sasuke reeled, he was accused of being immature by the number one knucklehead in the entire village!

"What are you talking about? You are the most childish person in the village!" Sasuke said excepting the cup Naruto offered him.

Naruto sighed and sat in the chair opposite of the couch Sasuke sat on.

"well I guess your the first person besides Haren I've told this..." He sat back and folded his hands in his lap, " when Haren was about three years old, a year after my mother died, she tripped and fell into the river outside of town." Sasuke's black eyes widened,

"She was saved by a nearby chunnin thank god but..." Naruto looked out the window next to him his eyes half closed he gritted his teeth,

" it was when we were playing tag, I had accidentally tagged her to hard and she had stumbled into the river because of me."

Naruto put his head in his hands,

"She could've died Sasuke, because of me! I instantly grew up, maybe not in body but most certainly in mind. The whole world around me became clearer more defined, I could hear better, even my sense of smell heightened. All of my childhood was lost to me, I'm now and was on that day as mature as any sensible adult-"

"Thats a lie!" Sasuke whispered suddenly, " all the time even today in the restaurant you were yelling like an idiot! Making a fool of your self! Your as grow up as my family is alive!" Sasuke said looking down angrily.

Naruto sat and let him brood for a moment, he watched him with an indifferent expression. Finally after some time he said,

" its hard for you to believe, because at the academy I'm loud and hyperactive

but that is my cover. People think I'm weird enough already, me instantly becoming my true self wouldn't help my social interactions. People think I do it for attention, but truthfully the last thing I want to do is embarrass Haren. Sometimes I wonder if she wants to be adopted by some kind foster family." the way Naruto was talking sounded just how like his mother used to talk, and she was the most sensitive, level headed person that Sasuke had ever seen.

Sasuke stared in disbelief, Naruto was really grown up, that one time... it all made sense.... one day Sasuke had been sitting down on his favorite dock. He had looked up to see Naruto walking by, on the hill a ways away from the dock, with handfuls of groceries. Then a couple of people had walked by they had seemed to ask him something then they pushed the groceries out of his hands snickering. Naruto had bent down and picked up the groceries without complaint, then he said something to the people.

Sasuke had figured he'd said something sarcastic due to the look of shock on the peoples faces but apparently he was just being polite, bidding them a good night.

"Sasuke, I will probably keep acting the way I do now until I'm a genin, but once that time comes, ill slowly ease into my own personality. Then people will just think I matured naturally. You must not act like we are friends once we are back at the academy."

Sasuke was shocked,

"we are... friends?" Sasuke whispered.

Naruto smiled,

"well I wouldn't have told you my closely guarded secret unless I knew I could trust you." Naruto paused extending a hand, "friend?"

Sasuke smiled and took Naruto's hand, his first real friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two: a new team, a kekegenkai? And a secret coming to the surface!

Haren looked up from washing dishes, the sun shone bright on the hot summer day. She turned off the water and wiped her soapy hands on her apron.

Haren put her hand on her chin and watched a messenger hawk fly off into the distance. A few chunnin hopped along the rooftops nearby. It had been about a year since she had graduated the academy, yet she was always stuck at home while Naruto and Sasuke went off doing cool missions, she pouted everyone besides her and Chibi was gone nowadays...She saw Chibi on her way to the Hyuga estate. She waved ecstatically, Chibi noticed and waved back, hopping over to her window,

"Hey Haren whats up?"

Haren went inside and came back with a piece of paper,

"My birthday is next week! Ill be turning twelve!"

"I would love to come to the party!" Chibi said reading the invitation.

they chatted for a few more minutes but then Chibi ran off when Haren threatened to dump dishwater on her. Haren would never actually do that of course, but the fake threat had made Chibi laugh. Haren had noticed since she met them both of the Uchiha's true personalities were coming out. Sasuke was very sweet and considerate towards everyone, besides Sakura and Ino, and even then he tried. Kaori though she had been unable to approach much less befriend.

She enjoyed the new Sasuke but, whenever she looked into his eyes she could still see the little spec that was Itachi. He still desperately wanted to kill him... and Haren knew that no matter how sweet Sasuke acted his brother would always make him cold and empty on the inside. Even towards herself, he would try extra hard to be sweet around her, but his inside pain seemed to sharpen when she was near. Most of the time when they were alone she found herself comforting him. Then there was Chibi, she used to be so quiet but now, she was very loud and friendly towards everyone. She had made other friends besides Haren, one of her best friends was Hinata. The Uchiha children had bloomed like lovely for-get-me-not flowers. Now the only outcasts in the village were the Uzumaki's.

Haren watched the street below and followed a strange head of red hair until it disappeared. How odd, there weren't many red heads in the village besides Haren herself. But then again a lot of people from all over had been arriving lately for the chunnin exams. Even though they were at least a month away, she guessed some just wanted to sight see.

Again looking at the cloudless sky Haren suddenly thought of something. She rushed over to the calender, oh...

Tomorrow was supposed to be the day that Naruto and Sasuke got home from the Land of Waves. Sasuke...

the way he had looked at her, how kind he was to her, and it wasn't a fake kindness either. But he probably just thought of her as he thought of Chibi.

She had found out that Chibi had a huge crush on Naruto, they would make a good couple if Naruto stopped being dense for two seconds.

Haren pulled on her white coat and grabbed her shopping basket.

Locking the door behind her she walked out of the apartment complex. Humming a little tune Chi Sensei had taught her. Chi Sensei had been training Haren for a year now about jutsu. Haren had the transformation jutsu perfected, and she was a master at tai jutsu. But her gen jutsu skills weren't that shabby at all. Then they had found out something really important about Haren along the way.

She rounded the corner and was blinded momentarily by the light of the sun directly hitting her,

"Hello..." Haren would recognize that voice anywhere!

Opening her eyes slowly she saw Sasuke and Naruto, with Sakura trailing behind. They weren't supposed to be back till the next day! She felt like throwing her arms around the two boys. She felt like punching the whiny pink haired witch. They all had packs on so they apparently had just gotten back,

"Oh my gosh I cant believe you guys are-" Haren was cut off,

"Saaaaasssuke Kun!" Sakura whined, " My back hurts can we go put down these heavy bags?" both Naruto and Sasuke gritted their teeth. Haren felt really sorry that they had to spend almost two weeks with her,

"Naruto please escort Sakura home." Sasuke said never taking his eyes off Haren,

"Sasuke kun! I want to stay with you!" Sakura whined hugging his arm as the obedient Naruto tried to pry her off.

A vein pulsed in Sasuke's temple, and he closed his eyes, Haren could see the old Sasuke trying to get out.

" I'll take you home Sakura, but after that leave me alone!" Sasuke said reluctantly. Haren glared at the pink haired girl, taking away Sasuke before she even got a chance to say hello.... it made her very angry for some reason, something deep inside stirred.

Haren's eyes opened wide as she saw the blue cloudless sky in her mind cloud over. And she had the urge to scream. No! Not here, not in front of him! She thought desperately. Its okay its not that bad just calm down...

Sakura squealed with joy.

All of them except Haren felt that the air got noticeably colder.

"Hey what happened it was nice and warm but now I'm chilly." Naruto said glancing at Sasuke. Sasuke was staring at Haren who was shuddering and grinding her teeth. His eyes had the sharingan activated,he saw her chakra spike.

Haren sighed her breath visible. Naruto was watching her too, so it was silent for a moment.

"Ignore it, its nothing." She looked up pain visible on her face, the air seemed to warm some.

Sakura took Haren's advice and ignored it linking arms with Sasuke,

" Hey Sasuke want to go out to dinner with me?"

The temperature dropped quickly and the genin could all see there breath.

Haren cursed under her breath,

" Haren whats wrong with you?" Sakura said snobbishly, tightening her hold on Sasuke's arm.

" Please don't provoke me..." Haren said through clenched teeth glaring at the pink haired girl. She made a snorting sound, and the temperature dropped even more, Haren looked down, and grabbed her side, there was a low growl in her mind.

**Kill her, you want to, I can help you, you hate her kill her**! The growl seemed to say.

" What could a pathetic little drop out like you do! You graduated from the academy, but you never even got put on a team!" Sakura seemed completely unaware of the rapidly decreasing temperature. The growl became deafening Haren gasped and covered her ears, could no one else hear it??? Sasuke was to riveted watching Haren to even defend her. He saw her pupils getting smaller and smaller, as if a bright light was shinning in her panicked eyes.

Sasuke's sharingan saw another massive spike, he knew that she was losing control of something, he was frozen with fear as he saw the outline of a gigantic dragon form behind her.

Naruto was looking back and forth between Sasuke and Haren, not being able to decide what to do.

" Your pathetic, you don't even deserve to be called a ninja." Sakura said reaching up and brushing her long hair out of her eyes.

that did it, an ominous wind whipped up around the genin, the growl turned to a roar, Haren's vision blurred she saw the heat pulsating in all the living things around her, Her eyes glowed blue, Sasuke saw the outline more clearly, and the wind gave sound to the dragon's previously mute roar.

What the hell was that thing? He thought frozen.

"You know who's really freaking pathetic Sakura?" Haren said her voice trembling with anger,

"PEOPLE LIKE YOU-!" Haren had sprung forward her eyes blank with fury. The wind reached its peak, sending bits of rock and dust swirling around, a high pitched roar could be heard.

but then suddenly everything stopped.

It had happened so quick not even Sasuke could trace the movements.

Sakura had been ripped away from him and she lay a few yards away moaning. Haren on the other hand lay under a huge scroll, with three jonnin surrounding her, all had Kunai at her throat.

Then there was one elderly lady standing off to the side a little bit,

"Haren I warned you not to get angry sweetie," she sighed and bending down she patted the writhing girl on the cheek,

" You young people never listen do you?" Haren growled savagely In response her blue eyes glowing with hatred for Sakura.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sasuke yelled rushing over the the woman.

She looked him up and down sceptically,

" you wouldn't happen to be Sasuke would you," when he nodded she laughed,

" Hmm... how disappointing, Haren said you always knew what to do in a panic situation, but when she was starting to lose control of her kekegenkai you just stood there now didn't you?"

Sasuke's eyes widened,

" Haren has a kekegenkai?"

the woman nodded,

" Yes its a wonderful one to... but why don't you come to my house with Haren and myself, we can discuss matters over a cup of tea."

" I'll come too!" Naruto came to stand beside Sasuke. Chi narrowed her eyes, this Sasuke looked observant, she would have to be very careful what she said around him, wouldn't want him finding out to much...

" I'm Chi Sensei. Haren is my apprentice, I am one of the only ninja in Konoha who knows how to use ice techniques, they are quite tricky unless your born with one."

Haren, Sasuke, and Naruto all sat on a tatami mat in front of a large cushioned chair. Chi sipped her tea idly and looked at the young genin, Haren in particular. Haren sat there not saying a word, knowing that Chi Sensei was experienced in telling the cover up story.

"Haren's kekegenkai is very peculiar, I have seen one like it only once. And that was in a ninja from the land of waves." Chi sipped her tea and then her eyes narrowed,

" her name was Kushina Uzumaki..." Haren and Naruto both tensed and sat up a little straighter.

" the technique is really quite extraordinary. The user gathering moisture from the air and then using wind to freeze it turning it into the perfect disposable weapon. Their fighting style is based on the beast within them, for example Kushina's was a Jaguar, so she fought very smoothly yet powerfully. And Haren's..." she paused, and all three genin leaned forward anxiously,

" The Ice Dragon. So she fights with utter abandon and disregard for her own safety. Its very rare to get the dragon, its quite ferocious, and positively lethal in battle. Had she not been stopped with that chakra suppressant scroll... Haren probably would have killed that girl." Naruto tensed and Sasuke looked down in shame. Haren was brooding inside, ugg what were they thinking, Sasuke and Naruto weren't idiots they would never believe this... she got a shock when the two started talking in more detail with her Sensei. Haren looked down in shame, she guessed she could use this as a cover up for now...

" Alright Haren come at me with all you've got!" yelled Rock Lee, lately because everyone else was training super hard for the chunnin exams Haren had been training with Lee.

She was completely unaware that almost every day many people came to observe her. Today it was Chi Sensei with Kakashi and the rest of team seven. Kakashi watched in awe as if out of no where ice walls formed all around Haren. Instead of running at him which she was given no time to do, Haren went on the defensive. Lee ran forward his shape a blur he dodged the first ice wall, but with a flick of her wrist Haren made another one slam into him in mid jump,

"Oh! Lee! I'm sorry that looked like it hurt-" she blinked as Lee was no longer laying in the grass. Haren felt arms wrap around her waist from behind, and a voice whisper in her ear,

" Treat me like a real enemy, if you pause in protecting yourself for even a moment like you did just then, you would be dead right now." Lee stroked her hair,

" And no one would want that now would they lovely one?" Haren totally oblivious to Lee's true feelings thought that he was just giving her a compliment. She shrugged out of his embrace and the ice walls turned to puddles.

" Lee, as thanks for training with me again would you like to get some lunch?"

Naruto and Kakashi had to stifle a kicking Sasuke, he had almost completely blown their cover by jumping out of the bushes. His face was red with anger, and he looked like he would kill Lee given the chance.

Kakashi and Naruto made shadow clones to keep Sasuke restrained as they went back to the edge of the bush with Chi.

They watched Lee and Haren walk off the field and once they were out of sight they let Sasuke go, he started screaming about how the freak with the huge eye brows was dead when he caught up. With that he ran after them.

Naruto and Kakashi sighed Chi Sensei just laughed like a school girl. Naruto and Kakashi jumped up to catch a yelling Sasuke.

" So Haren are you going to be taking the chunnin exams?" Lee asked between spoonfuls of egg drop soup.

" um probably not seeing as I am not on a team..."

Rock looked sympathetic,

" but your such a talented kounoichi! I cant believe they wont let you take it just because you don't have a team!"

Haren shrugged,

"Well my kekegenkai was very unstable when teams were selected so I really didn't have a choice, and now that every one is on a team what can I do?" Rock shrugged and the two went back to eating, they heard a shuffling behind them, and they turned to see a boy who stumbled into the shop before talking to them he called someone else. Once he caught his breath he yelled,

"ill be on a team with you!" He had auburn hair sticking out in all directions in disorderly spikes. He had lavender eyes with no pupils a pale face with thin lips and a tiny nose.

"Haren we have been looking all over for you! We want to form a team!" Someone else who was equally out of breath said coming up behind the boy.

it was Chibi, she hadn't been put on a team either because her sharingan had not awakened yet and she needed special training, but apparently now she was fine.

"This is Jannu, he is Hinata's cousin. He can use the byakugan and he's a very talented medical nin. I met him when I was at Hinata's house, he just came to Konoha he was born in a very far away land, so he didn't get put on a team either!" she said panting in between her hurried sentences. Haren and Rock Lee were to shocked to say anything. Chibi continued in a rush, "We have a really good Sensei in mind to, he is a jonnin that just transferred here from the land of waves!"

From behind the curtain in the front of the shop, an incredibly tall tan man walked up. He had deep brown eyes, with plain brown spiky hair. He wore the hidden leaf vest and carried a gigantic sword on his back. He didn't look out of breath at all, in fact he didn't even look winded. He smiled revealing sharpened teeth,

"the name is Zabuza Momochi, pleased to meet you. Ive been to hell and back and I'm willing to teach you youngsters all that I know."

Haren sensed strength seeping from every fiber of this guys being, but his eyes were so gentle... he noticed her staring and his mouth turned up into a smile,

" Your really cute ya know, whats your name?"

Haren bowed in thanks for the compliment,

" My name is Haren Uzumaki, pleased to meet you Zabuza Sensei! I would be honored to be on a team with all of you!"

"Good because we already did all the paperwork for it, we are a team whether you like it or not." Said the tall Hyuga crossing his arms and looking into the distance.

Zabuza's eyes widened, and he bent down to look her in the eye, Lee flinched as the jonnin came extremely close.

"Are you by any chance related to Naruto Uzumaki?"

Haren smiled,

"He's my big brother!He should be coming by for lunch any-"

"WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?" Naruto had just come into the shop and he was pointing at Zabuza with a genuinely shocked look on his face.

Haren sighed,

"there he is."

Zabuza turned, and smiling he said casually,

"Hey Naruto, how ya been?"

Naruto,Sasuke,and Kakashi all stood pointing mouths gaping at Zabuza.

"Your alive?!" they shouted.

Zabuza laughed forcefully and scratched the back of his head,

"do you idiots know how friggin hard it is to dig yourself out of a grave when your severely injured and pretty much starving?!" a vein pulsed in Zabuza's forehead,

"Didn't you have any medical nin look at me before you buried me?!" he said still smiling but anger was plain on his scarred face.

Team seven was speechless.

"but I decided after a few weeks of wandering around mourning Haku that I needed to turn my life around. So I went under a fake name in order to get over here then I talked with your Hokage, he was sympathetic, and considering my power level he allowed me to become a jonnin. Then," Zabuza gathered Haren, Chibi, and Jannu into a big hug, "i got assigned to be the captain of team 18!"

Naruto had already fainted, Sasuke looked like he was close to fainting, and Kakashi... he was dead looking he stood completely still and didn't even breath. This was the man he had almost impaled with chidori. This was the man that DID get impaled by at least twenty swords and spears. This was the man whom he had pronounced dead. This was the man he had buried himself. He was dead! He had no pulse! What was this guy!!?

Rock Lee turned to Haren and said sadly,

" I guess we wont be training together anymore huh?"

Haren was to excited but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. She was going to be on a team, have a Sensei, train with everyone, go on missions....

Haren looked down sighing but then seemed to brighten,

" well no we wont be training together, but every day we can have lunch together if that would make you feel better Lee."

Rock Lee brightened, then he got up, and pumping his fists with flames in his eyes he yelled,

" I will do 500 laps around the village so I will one day maybe be worthy of your kindness Haren! Farewell until tomorrow!" with that the youth crazy genin ran off with a trail of smoke behind him.

Sasuke looked like he was going to be sick, then Zabuza spoke up,

"Alright new members of squad 18, lets go see what you can do!"

Zabuza stood at the ready with no weapons, Chibi had started crying when he jokingly said he would use his sword in the mock battle.

"Alright first lets go with Chibi first." Zabuza said pointing to the tiny Uchiha. He had brought them to the practice field as the sun was setting because he said he was impatient and he wanted to document the teams current power levels.

Chibi stepped forward her eyes slipping into a one flame sharingan.

Her face was stony and she eased into a fighting stance her sharingan assessing all the elements of her atmosphere, she could see every twitch that Zabuza made.

"OK Chibi lets go! Come at me!" Chibi rushed forward in a black streak across the battle field. As she pounced on Zabuza, he flicked her away like a troublesome fly. She then twirled around midair and landed a solid kick to Zabuza's gut. He didn't even flinch. Chibi's eyes widened,

"You've got real good speed and flexibility, but your power level is just plain pathetic."

he reached out and snatched her leg that was still in the air and said,

"get stronger or this will keep happening to you."

he swung her around in the air and then threw her like a rag doll into the river. She screamed then hit the water with a slap that made Haren and Jannu cringe.

"Alright, one down, next is Jannu."

the Hyuga nodded solemnly and walked forward. Clapping his hands together he yelled,

"Byakugan!"

veins pulsed around the boy's eyes and he said,

"eight X trigram! 32 palms!" and rushed forward trying to jab Zabuza all over his midsection, the jonnin either parried the blow or knocked Jannu off his feet, the boy tried many tricks to find an opening, but the larger man would always catch him.

Finally Zabuza caught the young boy's arm and flung him into the river as well. Chibi had just climbed out and was starting to dry off when he landed and she was soaked again by the big splash he made.

"OK little red head! Your up, lets see what you can do!"

Haren nodded.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Haren shouted,

Another Haren appeared and jumped off into the trees,

'_there now I don't have to worry about losing control of the demon while I fight if someone is there to keep me sane!' _

Zabuza eyed the direction where the clone went warily, figuring she would try and use a surprise attack later.

Haren clapped her hands together and let her chakra completely lose, the dragon roared in triumph of being finally let free. It looked at the opposing jonnin through Haren's eyes. And growled sensing that he meant to cause harm to his vessel.

Haren went unconscious, her bodies head hung for a moment. Zabuza tilted his head to the side, what was she planning?

Then he heard it, a growl that most certainly did not belong to the tiny gennin, Haren looked up her eyes were completely blue with slitted pupils in the middle. Zabuza reeled, this was not on her profile.

Blue chakra swirled around her and ice started covering the battlefield. Zabuza using his instincts realized that this had elevated from a mock fight to a real fight. Something was wrong with Haren, and she was dangerous,he was not one to be scared but he also did not want to be hurt. He ran over to a tree and pulled his sword out of it.

Haren launched forward recklessly crashing over to Zabuza's side of the field. Their were ice shields around her and her hands were claws. She crashed into the sword with one of the shields and let out a roar that made her sound like a true beast, and it only barely cracked. Then with the sword lodged in the shield, she took this opportunity to punch Zabuza on the right side of his face.

The water clone exploded with a loud pop.

"Thanks Haren that is all I needed to see."

Haren found herself suddenly under a scroll with Zabuza sitting on top of it.

Her eyes reverted back to normal because of the chakra suppressant. And all the ice melted until they were just puddles on the ground.

" thats an impressive kekegenkai you got there! I've seen something like that in the land of waves. But I really didn't expect to see that here in the land of fire... hmm... well it looks like you can't control it yet." then he understood the purpose of the clone he had disposed of, it was to keep her conscious and sane. This kekegenkai was a lot like having a Bijju. Then Zabuza realized something, this was not a kekegenkai, he had seen something like it but it wasn't the same! He thought for a moment, the leaf village probably wanted to keep the sealing of a second biju secret, ans thats why it wasn't on her profile...

Chibi and Jannu walked over as Zabuza was rolling up the scroll.

"SO," Zabuza said loudly " I have measured your strength and my advice to you is...."

"YOU NEED TO GET STRONGER!" He boomed pointing to Chibi, making her squeak.

"YOU NEED TO BE FASTER!" He pointed at Jannu who hung his head.

Then he turned to Haren, staring in an almost affectionate way at the little girl sitting on the ground he saw suddenly in her place Haku when he had come upon the little boy on that snowy day. The chain on the haggard boy's neck jingled as he turned his liquid chestnut eyes to Zabuza.

Zabuza's eyes widened as he saw tears run down Haku's cheeks, and the image returned to normal, but Haren stared up at him, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

"Sensei?" Zabuza seemed to snap back to reality,

" Uh what is it." blush colored his cheeks and he was embarrassed about how much he had let Haku's death get to him.

"Why did Haren go crazy like that?" Jannu asked.

Haren choked out another sob she had been holding in.

Zabuza sighed and explained what he knew of Haren's kekegenkai to Chibi. Or well the kekegenkai that was apparently the cover story for her being a jinjiruki. The kekegenkai's special ability was utilizing unused genes. It would find the part of Haren's personality that she would never have used, and lock it way. In this case it was courage, strength, and rage. After feelings like that started to naturally arise in Haren the kekegenkai would be inactive. But once it sensed even a shade of those feelings in which it so jealously guarded, it would manifest into a form fitting to those feelings. In Haren's case it was a dragon. So whenever she got angry, wanted to find courage, or had to use a lot of strength for something the dragon was called to the front of her mind and used to control her. Using the resources closest at hand, or ones passed down through a bloodline.

Chibi's eyes widened.

And turning to Haren she said,

"i have been practicing sealing, maybe I can help?"

Haren nodded, Chibi stepped over to her and began the process.

Zabuza warily opened his eyes, he had been previously shielding the two other children when he had sensed the chakra burst coming. He had even seen the mass of energy coming at him like a wave. But there had been no pain, not searing gash, no broken bones, nothing.

He let go of Chibi and Jannu, and turned around to the barren training field.

"I think it worked! I don't feel the dragon anymore!" Haren said happily, standing on the one untouched spot on the training field. Zabuza stood up and dusted himself off,

"Are you okay Haren?" he said walking over to her and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Yea I feel great, no voice, no feeling of going out of control, I feel like, me!"

Zabuza smiled,

"Well now that you are under control I can teach you some water techniques. And a very special jutsu developed by a close friend of mine." Haren pumped her fists,

"Alright Sensei I am ready for anything you can throw at me!"

Chibi leaned over to Jannu,

"Does she seem a little more flamboyant to you?"

"Yea I noticed... maybe it is the result of the dragon being sealed away, all the emotions he was keeping locked up are now hers."

"geez it seems like this kekegenkai is more of a curse than a blessing."

Jannu nodded in agreement. Though both of them were highly unaware that Zabuza and Chi Sensei were lying through their teeth. It was not a kekegenkai, and it was NOT a blessing.


	3. special extra chapter

**Okay so here is just a little idea I had for an extra chapter, its probably stupid but ya know I just had to get Sasuke and Haren's relationship moving a little, though Haren is still really dense about it...**

Special Extra chapter: the best birthday ever!

Haren walked along the dark streets of Konoha, she had just gotten back from the Hokage's office.

She smiled happily, the chunnin exams! She would get to participate with her new team. In just two days!

She thought about it for a moment, she hadn't trained with her team for three days now, she wondered why...

Haren turned onto the alley that was a short cut to her apartment, to feel an odd presence.

Suddenly a hand came out of no where and grabbed her, covering her mouth and her eyes. She tried screaming but it was muffled. Damn it she was a ninja, how the hell did she go and get herself caught like this!? She kicked and struggled, but the kidnapper already had her hands tied as well as her feet. How could this happen!? It was the night of her birthday, of course no one had remembered but that was okay, Haren didn't mind, but still what kind of a present was this?

The kidnapper seemed to start walking, Haren still thrashed around, trying desperately to get free. She thought of Sasuke suddenly, what would he do in this situation? Haren went over her list of possible escape routs,

jutsu, nope hands were tied.

Bargaining or bribery? Nope mouth was covered...

she couldn't think of anything else, man would Zabuza Sensei be disappointed in her right now...

suddenly she was set down and a familiar voice rang in her ears,

"You know you didn't have to thrash so much!" the hand went away from her eyes and she saw Zabuza's smiling face, his sharp teeth reminding her of a shark.

"W-what? Sensei?!" Haren said stunned as he began to untie her, she looked around wildly, but it was pitch black, she could only see Zabuza because he was so close.

He smiled at her again after he was done untying her and helped her to stand up,

"Wha-" the word didn't leave her mouth because she was suddenly blinded by light.

They were in a large field that had the memorial stone in the center along with three posts. The trees on the sides of the field as well as one in the middle were strung up with multicolored paper lanterns. There were tables lined up with food and presents near the outside of the field.

And in the very middle near the big tree, stood all of Haren's friends and family. Jannu, Chibi, Naruto, Kakashi, Chi, Zabuza, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, Ten ten, Lee, Shino, Kiba, even the third Hokage! Haren's eyes began to tear up as Sasuke came up behind her and guided her to the crowd of people, all of them smiling and laughing.

From the middle of the crowd, a cake was brought forward by Kiba and Naruto.

It was absolutely gigantic! And it had twelve candles on the top layer, all burning different colors.

The crowd formed a circle around Haren as the cake was set on a table in front of her, all at once they yelled,

"HAPPY TWELTH BIRTHDAY HAREN!" with tears streaming down her cheeks Haren took a deep breath and blew out the candles. Every one began clapping and cheering, Haren turned around to face Chibi, Sasuke and Naruto,

"How did all of you know?"

Naruto gave her a big grin,

"How could your big brother forget your birthday?" Sasuke suddenly glared at him,

"i was the one who remembered DOBE! You had no clue!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT TEME?! I'LL CLEAN YOUR CLOCK!" the two boys began going at it yelling at each other. Everyone else just laughed, the third Hokage went over and cut a piece of cake, handing the plate to Haren.

Haren took a bite closing her eyes in happiness,

"It is great!" the two bickering boys paid her no mind continuing to argue. A vein pulsed in her forehead, and she tapped Naruto and Sasuke on their shoulders.

They both turned around saying,

"WHA-" though they did not have time to finish because a piece of cake was shoved into each of their faces, the second piece courtesy of the third Hokage, who was laughing and enjoying himself.

The two boys looked stunned to say the least, but then Sasuke got a surprise yet again when Haren after doing the same to Naruto kissed his cake covered cheek,

"mm, thanks you two, and every one else, for throwing me this party, this is the best birthday I have ever had in my entire life!" she said when she turned away from the beet red Uchiha.

The rest of the night was filled with music, dancing, and the occasional brawl. But Haren was having so much fun it seemed like a dream.

At the very end, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Zabuza got together and sent up blasts of lightning, fire, and water into the sky. Marking the end of an amazing party.

When it was all cleaned up and everyone else had gone home, only Sasuke, Naruto, Haren, and a sleeping Chibi were left.

While Haren was collecting her gifts Naruto quietly picked up Chibi and carried her away into the trees.

Haren turned around to look into the face of Sasuke Uchiha,

"Haren, I never got a chance to give yo my gift." he said sadly. Haren was confused, she moved the objects in her hands around a little until she found a brand new kunai holster, she showed it to him.

"Haha, yes that was technically a gift, but it was more of a distraction so no one would get suspicious." Haren was really confused now, he leaned closer until their noses were touching and whispered,

"Happy birthday Haren."

then he closed the gap letting his lips lightly touch hers. Haren's eyes were wide open and her face was bright red. Sasuke pulled away after a few seconds, no trace of blush on his face, he had apparently mentally prepared himself for this.

He patted Haren's head then he too disappeared into the darkness. Leaving Haren standing alone and shocked in the now ordinary training field.

"This really was... the best birthday ever..." she muttered to herself.


End file.
